


Family can be who you choose

by lojo



Series: YGO Werewolf AU [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Ambiguous Age, Gen, Honda's dog makes an appearance but Blankey doesn't have a character tag :(, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It was going to be more shippy than gen but I guess that's just how it be, Light Angst, Moving Out, i should have given Honda's sister a name but i feel awkward naming OCs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14103951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lojo/pseuds/lojo
Summary: Jonouchi knows that Honda will have his back, no matter what. In this case it means helping him move out.





	Family can be who you choose

Jonouchi loved how free he felt in his wolf form. He bounded through the city edge to the forest, paws pounding against the ground as fast as he could. Yes, he was free. When he was like this, it was as if he could outrun his troubles. There was no disappointed mother, no father with sour breath and curled fists. 

No little sister with overwhelming innocence looking up at him as if he was some kind of fucking hero. Shizuka, eyesight restored thanks to the fundraising efforts of he and his friends, wanted to spend time with him now that they were older. He panicked whenever she brought it up. He loved her dearly but she was so pure, so clean compared to him. She was too young to remember the vicious way their parents fought before the divorce, didn't know the extent of their father’s abuse. Katsuya wanted to keep it that way. 

All he could hear when he closed his eyes at night was his mother yelling at his father and at him. He was barely in middle school when Katsuya’s mother claimed that he was a bad influence, he hung around with the wrong crowd, he was a delinquent. That he was dangerous. She took Shizuka and kept them separated until Shizuka found a way to reach out to him. 

He felt weak, seeing the way his sister looked up at him. She really thought he was some kind of saint and he was scared of fucking it all up. Enough people told him what a fuck up he was over his life, he didn’t want to add her to the list. 

Jonouchi heard a short bark behind him and Honda caught up to his side. Honda, his best friend through thick and thin was right there, short brown coat gleaming in the moonlight. He didn’t know how long Honda had been there but he was grateful for the company. 

They didn't have a destination in mind, and it didn't matter. They had travelled far from their homes in Domino City with its shining lights and smoggy air to a stretch of docks on the outskirts of the city. The large weres slowed to a trot and stopped, panting lightly with exertion. 

He sat shoulder to shoulder with Honda at the edge of a pier, his best friend and ever present companion. Together they looked out at the ocean as it reflected moonlight. He slipped back into his human form, glad that he thought to pull on a jacket before he left home. Honda shifted as well, wearing the same tan coat he always wore.

Honda saw his black eye and didn’t comment on it. Instead he dug in a pocket and pulled out a crumpled carton. He offered a cigarette to Jonouchi and lit his own before handing the lighter over. “The offers still open y’know,” he said, the first words between them all day. 

Katsuya grunted. Smoking was a habit he’d picked up when he was a teen and Honda started smoking right along with him. 

“I was talking to my sister about it earlier,” Hiroto continued. “She wants you to move in too”

“Shit, you told her?”

“Didn’t have to. She noticed something’s up,” Honda gave him a sidelong glance and turned back to his smoke. He watched the ash trail from the end of his cigarette. “You're old enough to move out, you don’t have to live with your old man anymore. Let’s go get your stuff.”

Honda and his sister were werewolves too, it’d be so easy if he lived with them. He wouldn’t have to explain where he went or why he kept odd hours, and Honda’s elder sister understood that being a were meant you were always hungry. They didn't hit each other or drink or gamble. When it was all said and done, moving in with Honda was the obvious choice. 

He puffed out a sigh and watched the smoke dissipate. “Okay,” Katsuya flicked his unfinished smoke out into the water, Hiroto’s followed seconds after. “Okay,” Katsuya repeated, nodding to himself as he stood up. “I’ll move in.”

They walked back home as humans, the frigid night air breezed through his thin jacket and he shivered. Jonouchi walked because he was anxious about leaving and wanted to drag it out as long as possible. He was nervous, but he was going to leave his father's shitty apartment and Honda was going to help him. He could do this.

When they eventually made it, Jonouchi hesitated at the door.   
“He won’t like that I’m leaving.”

Honda cracked his knuckles and smirked. “We’ve busted up bigger guys than him.” 

In the end it didn’t come to any confrontation because Jonouchi’s dad was passed out at the kitchen table. It was clear from the reek of alcohol and the cans littered around him that he’d drunk himself stupid. It took a depressingly short time for Jonouchi to stuff all his essential belongings in a his backpack and head out. He stopped long enough to take the cash from his dad’s wallet and flip him off, then he and Honda were gone. 

It was nearing dawn by the time they trekked to Honda’s. Honda’s sister was asleep when they got there but she’d set out a futon for him in the living room and Hiroto gave him a playful shove when he got choked up at the welcome hospitality. 

Being up all night was hungry work and they gorged on sloppily made peanut butter sandwiches, eating the entire loaf of bread between them. When they were comfortably full they said their good nights. 

Joey stripped down to his boxers and snuggled in to the futon in his new home. He looked outside the curtained window and watched as the light of the early morning brightened and heard the sounds of Domino City waking up. Blankey, Hiroto’s dog, curled up on the blanket and he was glad for the warmth the dog offered. 

He still didn’t know what to do about his sister and he hated the guilt he felt for ditching his father, but no matter what Honda would have his back. That was a given.

**Author's Note:**

> Joey's dad literally only appeared for one panel but he left a lasting impression on me. This was my fix-it solution. I love werewolves I should write about them more.   
> @bakuraryxu on tumblr if you wanna talk. Leave a comment if you like! I'm open to suggestions for future pairs in this AU.


End file.
